Fitness Fellowship 2023: Week 28 Check-in

[sylvanwitch]

Greetings from the summery northern hemisphere!

The temperature here, yesterday and today, has finally regulated itself into the category of "I can stand going outside for more than a ten-minute stretch," and that's lovely. Otherwise, we've been doing our walks near sunset just to keep cool(er), but we're also in sandfly season, which makes walking in the open (like, for example, near the river, where we might luck into a breeze) an exciting obstacle course. I can only imagine what it must be like to be a motorcyclist this time of year in this part of the world. P-tooey! ;-)

How has this past week treated you in terms of your fitness goals, however you define "fitness" for yourself? Please do share if you're so inclined. You know we're here to listen and not to judge.



The intermittent fasting works! On Thursday, I weighed in the lowest I've been in months. I've regained a bit of that thanks to a weekend of semi-splurging (much more moderation than past splurge weekends, for sure, though), and throughout, I've still stuck to eating only during my window. I expect I'll lose the uptick pretty quickly.

The week was marked by two particularly emotionally difficult things, and I mostly avoided comfort-eating in relation to those two things. In fact, the second thing actually made me anxious, which usually has a dampening effect on my appetite. This occasion proved no different and coincided with that sudden loss of a whole extra pound.

I'd prefer to lose my weight in a less fraught manner, but it was nice to see that number on the scale.

Anyway, I am feeling confident about losing weight with IF and am definitely in the groove. We'll see if that lasts through my upcoming vacation, which starts next Thursday and goes for ten days. Next week, I'll be checking in from northern Nova Scotia!

Hydration has been okay. I have NOT been as good about it, for several reasons, as I should be, and I'm working to rectify that. I did do some breathing exercises a couple of times, and they helped to calm and center me, so that's good. Sleep has been pretty good, despite waking with back pain. I think I've found a solution, but it will have to wait until we're back from NS.

For the week ahead, I'm going to keep on keeping on with hydration, meditation/breathing, good sleep habits, healthy food choices, IF, and daily exercise.


I'm sending you all the best in fitness vibes for the week ahead, friends!

Comments

[cornerofmadness]

still no progress. ah well

[sylvanwitch]

You’ll get there! You have a lot going on this summer.

[cornerofmadness]

thanks. I could be trying harder

[oschun]

I'm so glad the IF is working for you. I feel the same way about getting into the routine of going to Pilates at the gym. I was disappointed that I had to miss it this week because the class was full but I did Callanetics at home instead.

Have a great time in Nova Scotia!

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you so much, hon. I’m relieved to have gotten to a point at which I felt I could try it. I know you’d recommended it ages ago, and I appreciate you planting the seed. 😁

Go, you, for doing Callanetics when you couldn’t do Pilates. I hope tomorrow night has a spot for you!

Also, you have a trip coming up, right? I hope the rest of term flies by for you, so you can enjoy your vacation!

[batdina]

Enjoy NS!

I'm doing mostly okay. Still stunned at the number of things that have sugar in them, not to mention all the ways in which the industry hides sugar by naming it weird-ass things. But the rest of life, exercise, etc. is going fairly well. And for right now, though probably not for much longer, the weather here is permitting outside activity. It's supposed to become beastly again some time this week so I'm planning on taking advantage of the comfortable walking while I can.

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you so much. This has been in the works since January, and I am so excited for it!

I know exactly what you mean about sneaky added sugar; I spend a lot of time staring at labels in the grocery aisles. It’s almost criminal what the processed food industry gets away with. Of course, it’s no coincidence that the acronym for the Standard American Diet is SAD! 😀

I hope you enjoy getting outdoors and that the weather gives you at least a few more chances before the heat descends again.

wearing my Fitbit again

[oldtoadwoman]

I walked 3.6 miles on Saturday (yay) and I'm still sore (boo).

Re: wearing my Fitbit again

[sylvanwitch]

3.6 miles?!? Excellent! I feel you on the soreness, though. I'm averaging about 1.5-2.0 miles/day in deliberate walking for exercise, but whenever I take a walk that's longer than that or over more challenging terrain, I *definitely* feel it the next day (and the day after that, etc.).

Re: wearing my Fitbit again

[oldtoadwoman]

And the day started out cool and overcast ... but turned into sunny and muggy. (I did successfully avoid burning with frequent reapplication of sunscreen, but there's still something about being in the sun for hours that is extra exhausting.)

[luzula]

I'm glad the IF is working for you! And I am not envious of you with the heat, wow... Good luck with your goals this week, and thanks again for hosting this. <3

Goals for last week:
- Do not do things related to my environmental organization (or to work) after 9 pm, or 8 pm if I can.
- Turn off computer at 10 pm every day.
Yes to these two.
- Go to bed and turn out the light at 11 pm every day.
Er, there was some backsliding, related to not being able to stop reading...
- Go for a walk every day.
Yes! There was bilberry picking, yum.
- Work out every day.
Missed two days, and also I counted sawing/chopping wood as a workout.

Goals for this week:
- I am visiting a friend Tuesday-Friday; I told her about the fitness fellowship and how it's helping me. We'll try to work out together on at least one day! She has small kids though, so I'll keep the goal to one day and it'll be a bonus if we manage two.
- Do not do things related to my environmental organization (or to work) after 9 pm, or 8 pm if I can.
- Turn off computer at 10 pm every day (except if I haven't managed to write by 10 pm while at my friend's; in that case I can write after 10).
- Go to bed and turn out the light at 11 pm every day.
- Work out on four days.
- Go running on one day.

[sylvanwitch]

I had not heard of bilberries before, so I just looked them up, and they sound delicious! I'm looking forward to Nova Scotia for many reasons, but one of them is the blueberries that grow there. YUM!

I am so glad the checking in here is helping you to exercise more--that means a lot to me and also acts as motivation to keep going myself. :-)

Yay for keeping your goals doable and realistic and for exercising with a friend! I hope the week ahead is a very good one for you!

[luzula]

In Swedish we just call them 'blåbär' (=blueberries), but then there are other blueberry species in America, so I have learned that they are bilberries when talking to Americans!

And thanks! : )